Fire, Real Salt Lake battle to draw

SANDY, Utah -- Generating offense has been a chore all
season for the Chicago Fire. Twice this season, the team has been
dealt three consecutive shutouts against MLS opponents.

The Fire finally found a way to extinguish their latest scoring
drought in a tough road environment and can only hope this serves
as a turning point in what has thus far been a disappointing 2013
season.

Quincy Amarikwa scored in the 84th minute to counter a goal from Alvaro Saborio in the 78th and Chicago played Real Salt Lake to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.

The Fire (2-7-2) snapped a three-match losing streak in which
they did not score a goal and improved to 3-2-3 all-time in Utah.
Chicago is the only MLS club with a winning road record against
Salt Lake (6-5-3).

Earning a point on the road could be the fork in the road that
helps the Fire climb the Eastern Conference standings again. Right
now, they are taking a wait-and-see approach.

"You can't say until you have four or five games and you see
what it does," Chicago midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. "But,
for us, you can tell that to come on the road and get a point is
something that picks up the locker room."

Things appeared to be going in the wrong direction for the Fire
once again after RSL broke a scoreless tie in the second half.

Saborio scored a few minutes after coming on as a second-half
substitute for Robbie Findley. Playing for the first time in a
month, Saborio made his presence felt, scoring after Javier Morales
hit the crossbar on a free kick a minute earlier. Ned Grabavoy sent
a cross to Saborio in front of the 6-yard box and he headed the ball home inside the left post and put Salt Lake up 1-0.

The Fire wasted no time stepping up on the other end, breaking a
scoreless drought of 361 minutes with Amarikwa's goal. Austin Berry
headed a pass off a long throw-in to Amarika, who used a bicycle
kick to slide the ball under the crossbar.

Chicago hadn't scored since a 1-0 victory over Columbus on April
20th.

"We keep creating more good shots, trying corners and free
kicks, but we just don't score," Fire midfielder Joel Lindpere
said. "It's frustrating for players, but we know if you create
them, one day the ball must go in. It must go in."

RSL had previously not scored a goal in three matches against
the Fire since earning a 1-0 home win on Sept. 18, 2010.
Chicago also had gone scoreless against RSL since claiming a 3-0
road victory on September 28, 2011.

Salt Lake had a couple of good scoring chances early after
dominating possession for much of the half. Fire goalkeeper Sean
Johnson came up with big saves to keep RSL off the scoreboard.

Kyle Beckerman fired a right footer at the left post from the
right side of the box in the 22nd minute. Johnson met the ball at
the post and denied Beckerman. He stepped up again in the 29th
after Grabavoy took a cross from Joao Plata and launched a header
from the center of the box. Johnson snagged the ball out of the air
to deny the potential goal.

RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando became just the fourth player in MLS history to play more than 30,000 career minutes. Beckerman and
fellow RSL veteran Nat Borchers also played in their 209th MLS
match together, setting a new league record for most games played
together as teammates.